Your Appointment Setting Strategy Sets You On Stage

19Jun

By stage, this does not necessarily mean your appointment settingstrategy puts you up as some kind of actor. The stage could be more like one in events (like the AllThingsD D11 conference as described in this LinkedIn article). And speaking of which, it looks like even the top brass of the top tech giants are not free from critical eye (which, coincidentally, also includes that of average consumers). Are you ready once you are set up via appointment setting?

If you are a software vendor yourself, it can sometimes feel like your appointment setting campaigns lose their big software leads to the mega-giants. But as the above quote can attest, even big players are not immune to even the most basic errors that any appointment setting process should help them prevent.

Now how exactly does appointment setting help you from fumbling over words as you respond to prospect representatives? The answer is already obvious: You know enough about them, about what they want, and even ask yourself the obstacles to delivering.

Who they are – A good appointment setting process keeps only the most important names (all the way down to the letter and even pronunciation) of who you are meeting with. You know their job titles and why they have the authority (or at least some strong relevance) regarding the acquisition of your technology.

What they want – This is very critical. Wants and needs can actually go hand in hand instead of just conflicting with each other. If your software appointment setting strategy fails to identify this, it has less chances of success because your prospect can either need it but not feel the commitment or they want to commit but feel that it can be an extravagance.

What stands in the way – Your appointment setting process can actually help cushion basic objections but do not rely on it too much when you start hearing questions only your representatives can answer. One good example is a more tech-heavy obstacle that your prospects are concerned with. Such problems need more time to discuss (which, fortunately, establishes the need for an appointment).

If your larger competitors can stumble just in the face of a critical consumer audience, then you can still gain the advantage if your appointment setting campaign can generate qualified software leads. Those leads in turn, help deflect flak.